


A Very Mighty Nein Christmas

by yuki_onna_sicarius



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, I felt like making a fun Christmas fic for them, M/M, they need to relax
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-24 08:02:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17096912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuki_onna_sicarius/pseuds/yuki_onna_sicarius
Summary: The Mighty Nein celebrate Christmas together for the first time





	A Very Mighty Nein Christmas

The air was cold as the Mighty Nein congregated at Caleb and Molly's home. All major holidays and events were hosted there, since Milo didn't like any of the other houses and apartments the other members of the Mighty Nein called home.

As Caleb opened the door to let Caduceus in, the first to arrive, Molly continued to fuss over the tree, leaning over to the window sill to straighten out some decorations he'd put up. He turned just in time to see Milo, who'd started walking, tugging on the tablecloth, which shifted. "No, no, no, Milo!" Molly yelled, picking him up just before anything could fall. Caleb and Caduceus walked into the living room just in time to hear Milo start screaming at the top of his lungs.

"What's wrong?" Caleb asked, taking Milo from Molly, who started straightening out decorations.

"The little devil wanted to pull the cloth off the table," Molly replied, moving to the closet to pull out some toys for the baby. Just as he was getting Milo situated and entertained, there was another ring of the doorbell. Caduceus came over and sat down with them.

"He's getting really big," the firbolg commented, picking up one of the toys on the floor.

Molly chuckled as Milo started making his way over to Caduceus. "I know, it's driving me insane. I keep thinking time's moving faster than it is." He flicked the end of his tail, which had a small bell on the end which caught Milo's attention. "Sorry, I forgot I had that on."

Caduceus laughed, which made Milo laugh back. "Why are you wearing a bell on your tail?"

Before Molly could answer, Beau came barging into the room, Yasha hot on her tail. "Where's my favorite little nephew!?" she exclaimed, rushing over and picking Milo up, pressing kisses all over his face. Again, Milo started giggling. Yasha made her way over to the other two sitting on the floor as the last three people arrived, following Caleb into the living room.

"Oh, look at Milo!" Jester exclaimed, making her way over to the baby. "He's so big! Molly, he's gonna be taller than you!"

Molly's tail flicked again, the bell jingling and grabbing everyone's attention. "Honestly, Jester, that won't be hard," he replied, a small, tired smile on his face. "I am on the shorter side for a tiefling."

"Damn, if you're short, I'm afraid to know what tall is," Beau commented as she bounced Milo on her hip. "Oh, hey, Yash, did you bring the presents?"

Molly let out a sigh. "We said no presents," he said, sounding a little irritated. Beau just shrugged while Yasha put them under the tree.

"We thought we'd do something nice for the best little baby in the world," Beau said, kissing Milo's cheeks some more.

"Watch out, he might throw up on you again," Molly commented, straightening the hat on his head, which had fallen over at some point. "I think he has an allergy to something, I'm just not sure what yet."

"Oh, poor baby," Beau said, bouncing him up and down.

Yasha patted Molly's head as she made her way to sit beside him again, earning a glare from her friend. "So, besides Milo, what's new with you?" she asked. "Caleb started that new job at the university, right?"

"Yeah," Molly replied, smiling a bit. "His classes are pretty small, which is good for him. I guess that's not surprising since he's teaching such a niche topic, but still." He smiled over toward Caleb, who was getting drinks for Jester and Nott, Fjord standing by Jester's side with an arm wrapped around her waist. "He said it's going really well, though."

"He's had your help," Yasha replied. "If it weren't for you, he wouldn't be able to talk in front of other people."

"What's going on here?" Jester asked, skipping into the room and taking a seat at the table. She had a bright blue drink in her hand, almost as blue as her skin, which she sipped before offering it to Molly. Looking intrigued, Molly decided to take a sip, cringing at the sweetness of the drink.

"We're teaching Milo to walk!" Beau exclaimed, putting the baby on the floor.

"Beau, he's been walking for weeks, you know that," Fjord pointed out, taking a seat beside Jester. "You were here for his first steps."

Beau shrugged. "He's still wobbly and needs his best aunt to help him learn how to walk properly." She set him down and he looked around, dazed and confused about what to do. Molly held out his arms, so Milo made his way over to him on shaky legs.

"Mama," Milo said, stumbling into Molly's arms and giggling. He pointed toward the table before he started chewing on his hand.

"What do you want?" Molly asked. Milo pointed at the table again, at Jester's drink. "Use your words, Milo."

"Juice!" Milo exclaimed.

Jester picked up her drink and held it out to him. "You want to try my drink?" she asked.

"No!" Molly yelled back, swatting her hand away. "Caleb, can you get the little devil something to drink?" Caleb shook his head and headed into the kitchen, laughing lightly as he did. Milo reached out for Jester's drink again, which Molly didn't like. "No, Milo, you can't have that."

"Juice!" Milo cried out, and when Molly held his hand back from the drink, he started crying. Jester pulled the drink away, out of sight, while Beau swooped in to try and calm the baby down.

"Why is he crying so much?" Yasha asked.

"This is his first time crying," Beau pointed out.

"He cried before you got here," Caduceus said, correcting her. Molly just sighed.

"His horns are coming in at the same time he's teething," he explained. "It's a miracle he's actually been this calm for this long." Caleb entered the living room and handed a sippy cup with juice in it to Milo, who started drinking excitedly.

"We haven't slept properly in three days," Caleb said as he sat down heavily on one of the couches. 

"You seem very energetic for two people that haven't slept in three days," Nott commented, pulling herself up onto the couch beside him. Molly tilted his head back to smile at her.

"We're past the point of being tired and entered the area of exhaustion where we're hyper at all times and paranoid. Also, I think Caleb's starting to hallucinate."

"There was a bear outside the window, that was no hallucination," Caleb retorted.

"Sure there was," Molly replied and patted his leg. "Well, since everyone ignored our wishes and brought gifts, why don't we open them before the little devil gets cranky again?" 

Fjord, who was sitting beside the tree, grabbed a present and passed it to Milo, who looked at it curiously before looking up at Molly. "Let's put your juice down and open this pretty present." Molly took the cup from Milo, who was holding it out to him, and placed it on the table, pulling the present closer to them. It was an open-top bag with colorful tissue paper sticking out of it, Jester's job no doubt.

Molly held the present out to Milo, who took some of the paper and ripped it out of the bag. He left out a happy shriek as the paper fell to the ground. Molly reached around Milo with his other hand, trapping the baby in his arms as he pulled the present out. "Look, Milo, a toy cat you'll get bored with in a week," the tiefling man commented flatly, mockingly. He looked up at Jester and Fjord, who just shrugged and smiled at him.

"What's next?" Caleb asked. Fjord jumped a little from his spot on the ground when Nott shrieked on the same wavelength as Milo when he's excited.

"The green one!" the yelled at him. "Do the green one next!"

"You could have just told me to do the green one, you didn't have to blow my eardrums out," Fjord replied, but grabbed the green one anyway. He handed it over to Molly, who held it out in front of Milo to rip open again. This one was a wrapped present, and it was pretty hefty, not to mention big. Milo took a giant chunk of the wrapping out of the middle and cheered in victory.

"Good job," Molly said, pressing a kiss to his cheek before finishing the job. Beneath the wrapping paper was a box that Molly recognized as one of many that Nott had collected over the years. He reached under the lip to open the top and looked inside and he couldn't help the "aww" that left his lips. "Nott," he said as he pulled out several children's books.

"I thought it would be nice to get some things he could read now and read when he's a little older," she explained. "There's more!"

Molly looked back down at the box and found that there were indeed more books in the box, but not for Milo. The next one in the box was a large book in another language that Molly assumed was for Caleb. He pulled it out and handed it to the wizard, who looked struck by it.

"Nott, how did you get this?" he asked. "I've been trying to get this for years."

"I know where to look," Nott replied.

"Please tell me you didn't steal it," Molly begged. "We swore we weren't going to do anything illegal anymore."

"I didn't!" Nott retorted defensively. "Anyway, there's something else in there."

Molly rolled his eyes, knowing perfectly well that there was another book in the box still. He looked down and saw the title, rolling his eyes again as he pulled it out. "Reading for dummies?" he asked, holding it up for her to see while everyone burst out laughing.

"I thought it could help you, since you can't read," Nott replied.

"For one, I can read," Molly pointed out, "proven by the fact that I read the title. I just don't  _like_ to read. Second, isn't it kind of...ironic, getting a book for someone who can't read?"

Nott opened her mouth to reply, but she had nothing to retort with, so she said nothing. Everyone else burst out laughing again, which was nice, Molly found. He hadn't laughed this much in a long time. Molly was putting his book down, and Milo's, on the table when Jester let out a loud gasp and lunged for him over the table, barely avoiding Caduceus, who barely had enough time to pull away.

"Molly, what's this!?" she asked loudly, holding his left hand in both of hers, her eyes zooming in on the ring he was wearing. The gold band had several diamonds embedded in it all around.

"It's a ring," Molly replied sarcastically.

"A special ring?" she asked, turning her eyes toward Caleb and wiggling her eyebrows at him. He raised an eyebrow back at her.

"Very special," he replied. After that announcement, the group erupted into a shitstorm of congratulations and arguments over who lost what bet. A few coins changed a couple hands and a couple faces soured while others beamed.

"I wanted to get engaged first," Jester pouted, looking at Fjord, who just patted her head.

"Well, we did also have a kid first," Molly pointed out. "It makes sense we're the first to get engaged as well."

Jester rolled her eyes and smacked his arm playfully. "You didn't  _have_ Milo, you adopted him," she pointed out, "but yeah, I guess you're right. So, when's the wedding? Do I get to be a bridesmaid? Can I pick out the dress I wear?"

Molly threw a hand over her mouth to quiet her. "Jessie, we only got engaged last night," he told her. Again, she gasped and turned to face Caleb.

"How did you do it?" she asked, leaning her head on her hands, looking at him with dreamy eyes. "Was it _super_ romantic? Did you have fun after? Was Milo there, or did you get a sitter? Did you get an orchestra to play a romantic song while you asked the question?"

"I do not think it fits your definition of super romantic," Caleb replied, "but I think Molly crying for hours would disagree with you."

"It wasn't hours," Molly snapped back.

"You were still crying when we went to bed," Caleb replied. "And you couldn't look away from the ring." Molly let out a defeated sigh and smiled at him instead of trying to fight more.

"I mean, it's so pretty," he said, running his fingers over the diamonds softly. "I just hope the little devil doesn't try to eat it." Milo started chewing on the ear of his new cat toy. "Also, Jester, if you want to be a bridesmaid, that's fine with me."

Jester squealed with joy and bounced in place at the news. "I want to choose my dress!"

"You can _help_ ," Molly replied.

"Eh, close enough," Jester said, accepting the compromise.

"And we want to wait until Milo's a little older," Caleb explained, "so he can be our ring bearer." Beau let out a little "aww" and offered to help teach him to walk. Molly let go of the little boy, who started wandering around. When Molly moved his tail, ringing the bells attached to it, Milo pounced on it, excitedly playing with it.

"I don't think walking is the problem with him," he said. "It's keeping him on track that is."

"I can help with that, too," Beau said.

A few hours later, when Milo was fast asleep in Molly's lap, Yasha sat with him and they talked quietly together. "So, we know my news," he said softly, his tail wrapped around Milo protectively. He'd long since ditched the bell, which was resting on the table. His fingers ran through his son's hair sweetly. "What about yours? How are you and Beau doing?"

Yasha looked up at the woman, who was helping clean the dishes and talking with Caleb. The assimar woman couldn't tell what her girlfriend was saying, but she looked happy. Yasha, on the other hand, looked a little...lost. "I don't know," she answered. "I feel like we're...stuck. Like we haven't been moving forward as a couple, you know?" 

"Not really," Molly replied, giving her a sympathetic look. "Caleb and I didn't really have a chance to get stuck in a rut, though. Not with Milo running around." He looked down at the boy when he started squirming, like he was uncomfortable. "Things are always different when there's children involved."

"Yeah," Yasha agreed.

"So what's the problem?" Molly asked, running his fingers over Milo's horn nubs. Waiting for the skin to break was the worst part. "I might be able to help if you tell me."

Yasha let out a sigh. "We just don't really do anything anymore," she explained. "We go to the gym, get lunch, then go home and lounge around all day. When we have work, we work. We don't do date night anymore, or anything. It's just...I don't know."

"So you want to go on another date?" Molly asked. Yasha expected him to laugh at her, but he surprised her by giving her a genuine smile. "Well, you're gonna have to be the one to initiate it. Sorry hon, but Beau isn't...good with emotions." They both looked into the kitchen when Beau and Caleb started laughing loudly. "She's gotten better, but she still needs that extra push."

Slowly, Yasha began to smile. "I guess you're right," she said. "Married life has changed you."

"I'm not married yet," Molly pointed out, giving her a pointed look. "But I agree. My crazy bachelor days are behind me." Milo whined and woke up, sitting up in Molly's lap.

"Mama, my head hurts," he said, rubbing at the places where his horns were coming in. Molly leaned down and kissed his forehead.

"I know, honey," he said. "I know, it's going to hurt for a while." Molly pulled Milo into a tight hug and ran his fingers through his hair again. It seemed to help.

"He's talking a lot," Yasha commented when Milo rushed into the kitchen to hug Auntie Beau and ask her to make the pain go away. "Is it normal for tiefling children to talk so much so soon?"

"He's a year old," Molly pointed out, "almost. A couple more days. But he's a very chatty child and he's picked up a lot from Jester, so he does talk a little more than other tiefling children his age."

Beau walked into the room with Milo attached to her leg, complaining that she couldn't leave. "I don't want to, little man, but Yasha and I need to go home," she said, "and feed Professor Thaddeus the Second. I'm sure he's lonely right now. You don't want him to be lonely, do you?"

"No," Milo replied and let her go, running back to Molly, wobbling a little on his tiny legs. "Mama, can you read to me?"

Molly smiled. "Sure, honey. Do you want me to read one of the new stories Auntie Nott bought you?" Milo nodded eagerly and picked up the one on top.

Yasha hugged them both goodbye, kissing Milo's head before she put him down. "Thank you," she whispered to Molly. "I'll try asking her out for once." Molly smiled and kissed her cheek before picking Milo up and carrying him to his room.

Tucked into bed, Milo waited eagerly for Molly to read him his bedtime story. It was a story about a goblin woman who helped save an elven kingdom. By the time Molly was done, Milo was fast asleep, and he was too tired to get up and make his way to his room. Caleb would understand he told himself as he got into a more comfortable position, falling asleep with his son.


End file.
